More Than You Want To Know...

I think I'm going to have every post next week have those ellipses in the title. I seem to do it A LOT. So sorry if that bugs you.

But I thought I'd share some stuff about yours truly in mostly pictures, cuz I'm crazy like that.

What I do for fun:


That's me in the blue jacket. I have a pitchfork. Don't ask. Mary Lindsey is the one with the Grim Reaper scythe-thing. Suzette Saxton is just trying to defend herself. Good times.

I love songs by people with food for their name:

No Rain by Blind Melon

Never There by Cake - dude don't you love Cake? I had their CD in high school, like, forever ago. I was kewl back then, too. *grins*



I like this song too:
Heartless by Kris Allen

And I still adore "Mad World" by this man:



Books I've Read For the First Time (don't judge) In the Past 10 Days:
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (I had *panic face* for a chapter or two)
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (holy world-building Batman!)
The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher (utterly awesome)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (it is what it is)
The Roar by Emma Clayton (post-apocalyptic, what could be better?)
Gifts by Ursula Le Guin (loved it!)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (shut up)
Gone by Michael Grant (words cannot describe the awesomeness this book is)



I hit one of these this week:


My girl kidlet said, "Mom, you're scaring me." Yeah, I scare myself sometimes.


I had my first experience with one of these:

They're webcams, in case you didn't know. Critique group will never be the same.



My best picture to date:


That's Mary with me. Maybe I look good because she's so cute.


What I learned doing this post: It takes forever to insert pictures into blogger and move them where you want them. My advice? Put in the last one first, then you don't have to drag so far. Freak.

What I also learned: I am amazing when suffering from Avoidance. I tried to get a prescription, but apparently, there is no cure. Dangit.

Other random facts: I've been hovering at 99 followers for three days. I'm going nuts. Someone just follow so I can get on with my life. Please.

I updated my sidebar with Wicked Awesome Bloggers, i.e. people I love to read everyday. There were 39! Thirty-freaking-nine. And I wonder why I have to limit myself to an hour of online time. If I missed yours, let me know. I follow so many....


What I should be doing:


Yeah, I'm in a killing mood right now. It's Jag again. For some reason he brings out the homicidal tendencies I work so hard to repress.

Oh! Talking about Jag made me remember. This is what he looks like:

<--- David Henrie from Wizards of Waverly Place. Yes, I watch it.

Eddie ---> Gilbert from The Next Food Network Star. L-o-v-e the spikes. And the eyesbrows... totally Jag.





And now you know more about me than you should.

One more thing: This blog post took me two hours. I am just that lame.

Have a great weekend!

Odds and Ends, Etc.

Okay, so I've slacked off on several things here at Mindless Musings. The first is the dialog contest thingy I did on my blog, um, gulp, almost three weeks ago.

The winner gets to send me their query letter or their first chapter (up to ten pages) for a complete shredding aka, a critique.

And the winner is...Scott!

Email me the Word document to elanajohnson at gmail dot com. I'll do my best to get back to you in a reasonable amount of time, which may mean something different to you than it does to me. *wink, wink*

Moving on.

Point two: I love these "motivational posters" like the one above. I've put one on my blog every day this week. They're really demotivational posters and you can find them at Despair, Inc. Hilarious!

Next. Books I've read since last time I blogged about it.

8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant--and it combines my two favorite things: reality TV and dystopian YA fiction. I only wish I had thought of it.

9. The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum. Seriously, people. This is what Twilight should have been. Read it. Love it. Can't wait for more.

10. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. I'm a lover of all things LHA, and she didn't disappoint here. Like at all. Fantastic read.

What I'm currently reading: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Ink Exchange by Mellisa Marr. Yes, all at the same time. Deal with it. Hey, I'm in the double-digits now. That's something right? Right?

And up next...

Flower short stories for the month of May (here's mine). These are the ones I read and know about. I'm pretty sure Christine is going to be throwing out the next topic, so be ready for that any day now.


KLo Abby Eric

Lisa and Laura Christine

Windsong (Danyelle) Rebecca

Melissa Nisa Mandy


If you posted and I missed it, let me know! I'll edit this post for ya.

One last thing: IT'S THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! I now have the next 2 1/2 months off--meaning I will waste copious amounts of time laying by the pool, watching my kids play sports and / or spending time with family and teenage girls.

Ah, the life.

Phew! I think that ties up all the loose ends. Have a fantastic weekend!

Holy Coolness That Is The Hollow

That's right, peeps, I've read a book that isn't even out yet! One of my online buddies is Jessica Verday. Her book, THE HOLLOW, comes out on October 6. You have to get it, so put it on your list right now and make sure you have an extra 15 bucks that week. Oh, and about 4 hours to read it, cuz you're gonna get sucked in from page one.

Wait! You can pre-order it now from Amazon. I have a thingy in my sidebar. You should. Do it. Now.

<---A few of my favorite things...







7. I also started The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan this week (thanks Leah). I am in the well of shame. The woman writes with a beauty I can only hope to achieve one day. I'm about 75 pages in and I've already been doing the sad head-shaking. I absolutely love it, the way she describes the emotion of love...gorgeous. You have to read it.

So I'm up to seven books for 2009. Not great, but not terrible either. My husband took me to the bookstore and I was able to buy two books. I bought City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King. I can't wait to read them and report in. And if you look really closely at that picture above, behind the ginger ale is a stack of books I have yet to read. And that's the short stack.

What have you been reading?

Book Reportage

I'm happy to report that I've read real, published books since last we talked! I also made the realization that I do quite a bit of beta reading and critique group reading and that those reading activities shouldn't be discounted. True, they are not published books, so they don't contribute to my yearly totals, but it's still reading.

3. The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney. This was a great read. Fast, too, because I got completely sucked into the world of being a Spook's apprentice. Very nicely done, Mr. Delaney. Very nicely done.

It's the story of a 13 year old boy who's learning how to deal with witches, boggarts and other things that go bump in the night. An exciting read.

4. So then I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It was pretty good. I was intrigued for the first 200 pages or so, and then it sort of stalled for me. But the narrator was interesting and the story was compelling enough to keep reading. The thing I liked the most was the literary style of writing. For example:

It felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it had pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprint were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice.

As you might expect, someone had died.

I've really been paying attention to what I read, what strikes me, what I really, really like. And sentences like these are brilliant. I really need to learn to write like this. I love it. Here's another bit from The Book Thief.

The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness.

Both of those passages conjured such great imagery for me. Other moments of brilliance were sprinkled throughout, so while I grew tired of plot at about page 200, I was able to press on and finish.

Because of the writing itself.

I read Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr last year, so it doesn't count, but she had this same style of literary writing mixed with an interesting story. Not too purple, but enough to stun you with the power of the words.

I so want to write like that.

5. Maximum Ride, The Final Warning by James Patterson. Okay, okay, I admit, I still have about 50 pages in this one. But it's a fast read, so I'll be done by the end of the day. I love the way Mr. Patterson weaves together the present tense commentary of the narrator with the past tense telling of the story. This is something I *love* and am trying to do in a novel I've written.

So here's my question, and it's really several. What books have you read where you fold down the pages because of the writing? Not necessarily the story, but the actual writing on the page? I need to read those books. Also, how have you decided what kind of writer you want to be? Do you want to write the gripping passage about a single color? Or are you the type that just writes what needs to be written? I'm a little of both. I'm trying to be more literary, but sometimes that's a hard mix with the sarcasm I've got going on.

*Snarf, snarf, snarf*

So how to you balance what you're writing? Some of everything in the book? Different styles for different stories?

See? Told you I had a lot of questions.

My Public Confession...

Okay, so I said I was going to take on the challenge to read 50 books this year. Um, yeah. A certain friend of mine has been kicking my virtual patootie. I think she's on like, 15 or something. Since I am the most competitive person on the planet (no, seriously. I was playing basketball with my husband-then-fiancee and I just can't play. I have to play. He ended up elbowing me in the skull, chipping a small piece of bone off my eyebrow bone. Is that what it's called? Anyway, you can still feel the piece of bone moving around in there, 12 years later. I'm just that competitive), I can't let this year go by without reading 50 books.

This doesn't seem like it should be that big of a deal. I used to read 2-3 books a week. Note the words "used to." That was before I started writing. This seems backward, but now I spend all my free time writing, editing, critiquing, and surfing the 'net.

I really need to get back to reading.

So here's my public confession. I've only read two books this year. Le sigh.

My goal: List at least one book per week from now on. I have the summer to catch up. (Yeah, that's what I'm telling myself.)

My 50 books in 2009:
1. TANTALIZE by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Like I haven't said enough about this book. I read it the first week of January. I have ETERNAL in my queue.

2. THE SISTERS GRIMM by Michael Buckley and Peter Ferguson

I have access to hundreds and hundreds of books. My DH has a classroom library. I brought this book home over the weekend and devoured it. A fantastic blend of fairy tales and detective work. You should read it if you like humor, fairy tales, mystery, and a fun time. It was fantastic.

So that makes 2 this year. I have a stack of 12-15 books on my table. I'm so gonna get caught up on this whole 50 books thing.

I blogged about which books I have in my queue here. What else do I need to read this year?

You so know I'm not going to lose this. Even though I'm only at #2...

My 50 Books for 2009

So I'm lame. I've read one book so far this year. Hey, there's nothing like a challenge. In my mathematician mind, I know I have to read about 4 books per month to make the 50 this year. So I'm already 3 behind.

In case you have no idea, what I'm talking about, I'm taking on the challenge to read 50 books in 2009. Here are some already on my list, in no particular order. I'll add to it as I discover more "must-reads" and new books that aren't out yet.

1. The Final Warning by James Patterson

2. The Quantum Prophecy--The Awakening by Michael Carroll

3. Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice) by Joseph Delaney and Patrick Arrasmith

4. Marked by P.C and Kristen Cast

5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

6. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

7. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

8. The Book Thief by Mark Zusak

9. Here There Be Dragons by James A. Owen

10. The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

11. Paper Towns by John Greene

12. Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson

13. Pillage by Obert Skye

Books that aren't out yet, but I will be buying and reading:

1. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brenaman (out June 2)

2. The Hollow by Jessica Verday (out October 6)

3. Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4) by Richelle Mead (out August 25)

Oooh, I ended that list on 13. And it's Friday the 13th this week. Hmm...a sign? Perhaps. What other books need to be on my list?